


5 Things Frankie Knows About Troy +1 She Wishes She Did

by AHHHCarmen



Series: Intro Class to General Chaos and Waywardness [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Confusion, Cults, Episode: s06e06 Basic Email Security, Greendale, How Do I Tag, Interviews, M/M, Mostly Frankie Losing Her Mind Over The Idea of Troy, Season/Series 06, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29072952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHHHCarmen/pseuds/AHHHCarmen
Summary: Lots of weird stuff has happened at Greendale, most of which Frankie Dart tries to clean from her memory. But after a while, the mystery behind Troy becomes too strange to leave alone. As she struggles to find out basic facts about a man who be either dead, an actual god, or a figment of everyone's imaginations, she might just learn about how "solving Greendale" is the worst decision a person can make.Basically Frankie is confounded by the way everyone talks about Troy and her imagination gets the better of her. Content Warning: Pierce's Existence 🙄🙄
Relationships: Frankie Dart & Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Frankie Dart & the Study Group, Frankie/Being Confused, Troy Barnes & the Study Group, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: Intro Class to General Chaos and Waywardness [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158461
Comments: 18
Kudos: 89





	5 Things Frankie Knows About Troy +1 She Wishes She Did

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!! This entire thing is the equivalent of a monkey smashing their hands on a typewriter, accidentally tripping, then sending the long keyboard smash to the President of the United States, so I'm SORRY IN ADVANCE. I haven't written a fic in AGES and this style is basically just dressed up drabbles. 
> 
> This mess was brought to you by: the fact I'm a succubus for confusion, and Community is such a confusing show to outsiders. Therefore, Frankie (an outsider that came in and NAILED it.) was the perfect pov to write my headcannons for certain scenes!! Also the album The Terrordactyles for playing 24/7 as I wrote this

Frankie thought Greendale was made weird by the Frisbee Incident, that the college had an unfortunate case of bad luck. Sure, it was a bizarre problem that she hadn't ever encountered in her years of insurance, but this was probably a one time thing that was as equally confusing to everyone else.That students (and occasionally facility?) had taken the disaster at the beginning of the year as an excuse to blow this school off. She tried to believe THAT was why these things kept happening. Jeff Winger murdering an electronic prisoner, City College's intense and violent rivalry, the Dean getting stuck in an ancient VR game, the Dean in general, these were all things that, while strange, had started this year. 

Then, when simultaneously protesting and protecting a racist comic, it's revealed that Chang, one of the most insane people Frankie's ever met, was a teacher! Here! And that the "Save Greendale!" team was originally a study group, one created to help with Chang's class. She had thought the reason all of her, now friends, were desensitized only because they had faced such a weird start to the semester. But these people had been here for years. Long enough to mention off hand some genuinely concerning things she's started to list in a rank Frankie is calling "Top 15 Weirdest Events That Have Taken Place at Greendale". She mostly does this as a coping mechanism, so when the human personification of Subway turned secret employee of Honda, returns to influence a very stupid man she works for, she can remind herself of number 7 on the list. Number 7 is the time Jeff and the pool coach (not like the body of water, the game) had a stripping competition because of a dress code involving shorts.

Something that brings her joy is that she rarely ever has to get higher than 10, (which is the mass roofing that took place on Halloween 2010 and managed to... Wipe everyone's memories), but sometimes certain problems call for drastic measures. The only outlier to the list is 4. While everything else is an event Frankie is grateful she wasn't here for, number 4 is a topic that is an OVERALL mystery. Less of a "this is a weird problem that I'm glad I didn't try to solve" and more of a "it's weird how secret this past problem is, so weird it's becoming a present problem". 

Number 4 on the list is simply the name Troy.

"Troy", the name of a man that is only ever spoken as if it is cursed, the name that has sent students and teachers alike into chills, the name that she has been asked to not talk about near vents or bathrooms, the name... that she can't find anything on. Despite being told by Jeff that Troy's only defining feature was his steel drum ability, Frankie can't find any old fliers for a concert involving a Troy and percussion, something that she KNOWS Craig would have taken advantage of at a dance. The Greendale Band Department regretfully tells her that they've never had near enough funds for a drum, let alone a metal one.(She had to buy her own steel drums for the solo. They were expensive.) While it's possible that the musical talent could have been hidden, and not associated with school, she has worked embarrassingly hard to bury the memory by not doing either, and tries to fix the problem that is this man. But Troy is still wistfully mentioned, and everyone still danced around whatever happened. 

So, separate from Frankie's "Top 15 Weirdest Events That Have Taken Place at Greendale" list is a much shorter one called "The Things I Know About Troy". 

1\. Troy was part of the OG Save Greendale Committee/ Study group. 

This seems obvious, because the main people to bring him up are other members of the group, but for a while, it was completely possible that Troy was a community known urban legend. Maybe, similar to Beetlejuice, saying the creature's name too many times summoned him, and was called "Troy", for the safety of everyone. This was an explanation to why everyone looked like they were swallowing glass when his name was said. He could reasonably be a deity. Luckily, before she could fall into the murky depths that is religion at Greendale, she simply asks Britta. After a meeting about which classes have too much funding (Puppet Making and Socks: Are They For Sleep? were both asking for more money), Frankie managed to finally question it.

This was after Troy was mentioned for the 6th time, in regards to whether or not to cut the class Medieval Marketing and Language. "I just don't get the importance of teaching a class solely on how to appeal to historical reenactors." Frankie argued. "Who's even willing to take this?"

"Troy took it. Something about never knowing about how to act at those festivals. I told him it wasn't necessary to dress up or speak in old english, but I think he just felt bad for not playing along." 

_'Hmm,'_ Frankie thought. _'Maybe an older guy? Makes sense that he wouldn't know the rules of a renaissance fair.'_ Jeff and Annie had both turned to look at Abed in shock as soon as he started to speak. He wasn't looking back though, instead he seemed entranced with Chang. Well, not Chang, that would be weird, no. It was almost as if Abed was starring through him, and was entranced with the spot at the table rather than the man currently sitting there. Chang, sweating buckets, scooted loudly out of his view, while Abed still stared intensely at the carpet.

"O-kayyy," Frankie started, hoping to break everyone out of the love triangle-esque staring contest. "was Troy's life forever changed by Medieval Marketing and Language? If so, was it because of the 45 pounds of strawberry yogurt that most of the budget is going to?" Nobody answers. The room, which does occasionally get quiet, felt stiff. Abed, stuck possibly admiring the Kool-Aid stain, doesn't respond. Jeff and Annie are looking at him with concern, the latter ready to get out of her seat. Elroy was trying to make eye contact with Chang to ask _"What the fuck did you do?"_ , as he had obviously not been paying attention. Chang was trying to telepathically get Frankie to talk more about yogurt. Frankie was trying to piece together the mystery of "Troy", and why it made Abed go catatonic. Britta was... not there. 

"SAVE GREENDALE COMMITTEE! We have an emergency!" Craig Pelton ran in, dressed as a bird that wasn't a turkey... anymore. It looked like one of his signature costumes was run through a paper shredder. "The upcoming Turkey Day Dance has to be re-themed due to a dachshund related disaster that happened in the halls. It was horrible really, you'd think that such small dogs wouldn't have that sharp of teeth, but they were unexpectedly dangerous." As the Dean rambled on about the nature of the attack, Britta slipped back into the room. She cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered in Frankie's direction. "I just had to unleash the Cosmetology students' only volunteers!"

By the time Frankie looked back at Abed, he, like the others at the table, were fully invested on solving today's problem. The moment had passed.

Even though the crisis was averted, Frankie couldn't get over it. It bothered her immensely, the idea that there was an issue she couldn't solve. Both Abed's blackout and Troy's importance weighed on her enough to talk with Britta about it. Britta is on her way to the death trap she calls a car when Frankie manages to spot her. "Hey," she calls. "what happened back there?" _'Gotta get straight to the point. Britta tends to get distracted or not understand the intent of quest-'_

"I think that might have been me taking advantage of the Dean again," she looks a bit guilty, starting to slow down for Frankie's sake. "And I know it's bad to manipulate his love for us like that, but it's just so easy to get him to plan a dance! It's like taking candy from a very stupid baby!" Frankie thinks about how strange Craig's dependence on the group is, than remembers the point at hand.

"No, I mean what was that? With Abed?"

Britta smiles and waves her hand dismissively. "Oh that was nothing. Just me being a good friend! Y'know, I might not be as close to Abed as Annie, or even Jeff, but I still like to help out when I can! I thought the dachshunds would cause some chaos and snap him out of it."

Frankie inhales, only mostly frustrated. She tries to be more direct. "Why would he react like that?"

Britta looks like a mixture of disappointed and mad now, almost perfectly pulling of that classic mother death-glare. "Everyone reacts differently to things, Francesca. Abed just happens to work a little different, and if you wanna try to improve the school, maybe you should start with your ableist mindset!"

"Britta, no. My sister is disabled. I just meant... Who's Troy?"

Her face goes back to default, and now she looks a little bit embarrassed. "Oh sorry. I was just worried that I finally got another empowered and independent woman as a friend, and that I'd have to murder you for saying mean things about Abed." Frankie, a little startled, but also understanding, looks expectantly at her. Britta thinks for a moment before finally saying, "And Troy was an old member of the committee. I guess I forgot no one told you, he-"

A series of meows from her pocket interrupts. Britta hastily answers a call, it turns out there is not a kitten shoved in her jacket, but rather a cat themed ringtone. Her face falls. "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I've gotta run. I put in another application to adopt a cat with wheels for legs and have been waiting for a call back since forever and- what am I saying! I've gotta get going!" As she pulls out the parking lot, shouting "BYEEEEEeeee!!", she also leaves Francesca with the only fact she's managed to uncover. Troy was, at some point, part of the SGDC (Save GreenDale Committee). 

But there's still so much she doesn't understand. She knows the group is very tight knit, and that half of the crazy situations would've been left unresolved if it wasn't for their bond. She also knows that no one is against bringing up the former friends in a less than positive light. One would think talking about an old man's horrible mistakes would be inappropriate, especially if the guy masturbated to death. That's obviously wrong, as Jeff will bring up Pierce Hawthorne with little need or shame. Not even a week at the college and Frankie's already spoke to Shirley, another (alive) past member, on speaker phone. In fact, Jeff, Abed, Annie and Britta talk about the two an uncomfortable amount. She knows Pierce's brother, his birthday, his daddy issues. She knows Shirley's failed marriage, three sons, and spin off cop drama. At this point, she knows them better than certain family members!

But for whatever reason, she can't even get Troy's last name. 

Frankie Dart is determined to get to the bottom of this. 

2\. Troy lived with Annie and Abed. 

"Now I know we're running out of time before the meeting concludes, but this is urgent. Rumors of a group calling themselves the "Rat Pack" are going around. Apparently the goal is to," Frankie sighs and rubs her temples. "Live inside the walls. And... steal items of personal value from those living in the dorms. I mostly am in need of a plan to identify and or stop the students responsible. The current idea is to seal up the holes and starve them out. I'm looking for anything less gruesome."

Just as Annie starts to suggest a better idea, Jeff announces that the meeting is over and he has a class to sit in front of. Everyone files out, whether it's to """"teach"""", or to online shop for a salsa dress. Before she can go to cancel said purchase, Annie stops her at the door. "Frankie, I have a few ideas for how to deal with it. Are we looking for a more practical plan, or a plan so wild and borderline illegal that it runs smoothly?"

Frankie considers for a moment. "As much as I would love to say the first one, I've learned that those never work out. What's your theory?"

"Well, I've been stuck with an ABSURD amount of mouse traps ever since my more rodent-averse roommate moved out, and I've been looking for an excuse to use all 250. This seems like a worthy cause!"

_'Huh.'_ Frankie knew that Annie lived with Abed in an apartment, but had no idea he'd moved recently. And that seemed like much too high a number, even for him, who always freed spiders instead of stomping them. 

"Oh, I didn't know Abed disliked mice that much. Or that he'd moved."

Annie shakes her head. "He doesn't, big fan actually. And Britta insists that we can't use them anymore because it's inhumane. It's our old one," she freezes, and looks around for something. "Troy, who didn't like them. He impulse bought loads of traps after just hearing squeaks."

There's a moment of silence, where Annie could seriously be mourning and Frankie is mentally writing down fear of rats to a list. The younger girl breaks the quiet. "Anyway, there hasn't been much use for them. You think it could work?"

"Definitely weird enough. Something tells me a bunch of college students living in walls, dressed as dirty hamsters, can be foiled by mousetraps. If you could drop them off here tomorrow morning, that'd be perfect!"

Annie gives a thumbs up and a smile before heading off to class. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late that night, Frankie is fairly convinced she has put together the puzzle. Both the Butterfly Forest puzzle in front of her, and the Troy one. Using solely context clues and having no records besides word of mouth, she's ready to call it quits on this mystery. There's some missing pieces, sure, but at least now there's an image down, and that's the main point. She's got this one in the bag. 

Troy, a delusional older man, was a member of the SGDC. He didn't understand Renaissance fairs, was terrified of rats, and had empathy for the working class. He and the group must have had a very good bond for everyone to still be torn up about his death, so Troy was definitely nicer than Pierce. Abed and Annie lived with him, whether out of concern for his safety or their genuine enjoyment of the man's company. However, Abed and Troy were much closer, and likely had a father-son bond. This could have happened as a mix of Troy having no family and Abed's rocky relationship with his own dad. So, when he eventually passed, Abed was hurt more. The rest of the group might struggle to not bring Troy up, but it's obviously for the betterment of his mental health.

_'Yep, this makes sense.'_ Frankie is relatively sure that this is close enough to the truth, at least within the realm of possibility. _'I can't believe I thought that Troy was an actual demon! I was suspicious and concerned over nothing.'_ She knows there isn't really a reason to apologize, she never really expressed her fears, but Frankie almost feels bad about misjudging Troy. What she thought was a strange, surely magical man, was actually just a strange, very dead man. 

She knows, somewhere deep in her insurance loving heart, that this isn't enough. She can't go off of this description forever, she needs confirmation, she needs enough info to make a timeline, she needs answers. But she lies to herself, insists that this it, she can move on. 

She can't be wrong about Troy.

(Fair warning, this is the last normal thing on the list.)

3\. Troy isn't dead, but instead on a boat with LeVar Burton. 

She was _very_ wrong about Troy. 

After the whole e-mail leaking incident, Frankie was mostly embarrassed about reading her friends personal messages. The agreement was for them all to deal with it, and not read each other's out of respect for everyone's privacy. And while she felt guilty at first, that all went away when she found out about the betting pool on her sexuality, which was incredibly inappropriate and strangely specific. Even though she doubted things could get worse, she still took it upon herself to read through the remaining emails. And while a few were interesting, (Jeff was emailing a lady named Doreen pretty consistently, but it turned out that was just his mom), nothing was really quite as bad. Frankie doesn't know whether or not to be upset. 

Eventually she came to the last e-mails, the one's she had deemed least interesting, Abed's inbox. Just scanning through, she couldn't find anything with her name, which she assumes is a good thing. She searched for his bet, but could only find one message. It was in response to Jeff, and it bluntly said "I don't want to help you guess Francesca's sexual preferences. I am still mad at you for not watching Muppets: Most Wanted with me.". She appreciated this. She's really just scrolling through the other ones mindlessly, writing down things Abed seems to like and get reminders for, when she notices a reoccurring name. "ButtSoupBarnes@gmail. com ". It seems to be a message in a rather long thread, so she hunts down the first one out of mild interest. 

It is a really long conversation, dating all the way back to almost exactly a year ago, and it starts with Abed. 

SUBJECT: To Wish Good Luck on Your Quest  
TO: ButtSoupBarnes@gmail .com  
FROM: AbedNadir@gmail. com 

_Hello Troy. I am emailing you to wish you safe travels on your sea faring journey, even though I'm sure that by now you've realized that we're in land locked Colorado. I hope that LeVar is well. I would normally email you from my inspector account, but I didn't know if you would have forgotten about me yet. I know the cloning process can be difficult, so I wanted to insure that you'd get my regards and not think they were from someone worried about public safety. There isn't much room for me in a sailor's brain, and considering that you're going to be a sailor for quite awhile, I thought that I could allow you to forget about me. It's important for you to learn all the sea-related information needed to travel the world. It's less important to remember the date we had a Breakfast Club homage/parody marathon. And so, to the last part of you that recognizes the name Abed, I'll tell you a secret. I miss you already. It's only been 4 hours, and the whole lava incident ended with the goal of me not doing this, but I guess that didn't work for me. I miss you._

Frankie would be lying if she said that didn't move her. It hit too close to home, strongly resembling her first message to her deceased sister. The 'I miss you's, and the knowledge that the receiver would never respond. Maybe Abed was also writing to a late Troy's email as a journaling device? The only thing that struck her as odd was the ocean imagery and mention of a LeVar. She passed it off as a reference to something she hadn't seen on account of her lack of TV. She almost stopped reading right then, when she noticed that there was a response. 

SUBJECT (RE): To Wish Good Luck on Your Quest  
TO: AbedNadir@gmail. com  
FROM: ButtSoupBarnes@gmail. com 

_ABED!! Okay, gonna go in order of what you said, so starting off, yeah. We're stuck in traffic and it sucks, but I have gotten to ask Mr. Burton some questions!! This is a plus. I'll tell you about them later, because there will be a later because I AM NOT GONNA FORGET YOU. I don't care how much ship lingo I need to study for, I'm not gonna bury you like a dirty little secret or something!!! Gross! You're like,,, the BEST thing that's ever happened to me, and you're pretty much my life man. If I got rid of your space in my brain, not only would my character loose all development (something you hate) I'D ALSO HAVE NOTHING. I'd probably still be aggressively manly and deny knowing Inspector Spacetime because it's too "nerdy"! You're my world Abed. I'd be dumb to wipe you away for something about currents. And,, just between you and me,,, I don't think the cloning thing worked either. Because I definitely still miss you. What are we gonna do?? We should work this out in a non-ancient platform, like call (Call me, I'm asking you to call me because I'm not out to sea yet and I wanna see you and talk to you and do our handshake even if I stole it from those guys and I am SO sorry)_

_'Maybe this is like Elroy's whole fake family? A new person got the address and just rolled with it. Who am I kidding.'_ Frankie just really didn't wanna have to get back into the web of secrets that is this man. She wanted to stay with her dead old man theory, she wanted to leave her list of info short and sweet. But... it's right there. The answers are so close. In a moment of genuine struggle, she can't choose between staying blissfully unaware and learning far too much. She glared at her monitor and shuts it off. She chose to take the slightly higher route of not _not_ investigating, but also to stop reading this. Instead, she'd try to gather facts organically, like demanding to know what was so special about him. So, Frankie got back on her never ending journey for answers.

After the entire school's e-mails had been revealed and the issues about betting pools/female time travelers had been brought to light, she manages to catch Abed outside the school with Annie. "Hey," Frankie starts. "I just wanted to thank specifically Abed for not participating in the 'Whats Frankie's Love Life Like?' show, that was really nice and respectful of you." She glanced at a certain person who was neither. Annie flinches. "Yeah..." she starts to wring her hands. "I'm really sorry about that!" Abed just rests a hand on her shoulder and says, "It's okay, that conflict was resolved after we destroyed the friendships of our peers. Right Frankie?" He looks at her for conformation, and Annie lets out a sigh of relief when she nods again. 

"I do have a quick convo with Abed though." Frankie tries to signal that the discussion will be personal through awkward hand movements, which Annie eventually gets. Abed is pretty sure that she just had a stroke, and Annie uses the excuse of "Car cold! Gonna go heat up." To get the two of them alone.

He looks at her blankly. Frankie tries to think of the most clear way to ask the question without Britta-ing it up and causing her to rephrase it 3 times or leave with nothing. "I did read quite a few of your messages, and I'm sorry for that. I noticed a large chunk of them were just to a guy named Troy. I know you heard about my sister, so because we're in similar situations, I wanted to offer my-"

"Your sister is dead."

A bit startled, she stutters out "W-well one of them is yes, I just wanted to maybe give you some advice-"

"Do you think Troy is dead?" Abed doesn't look mad, he barely even seems surprised. The way it's said isn't even accusatory, just a polite inquiry. 

"Uh. Yeeeees?" Frankie says, holding out the e. 

He shakes his head violently. "Troy isn't dead." That's all he offers, and it's eerie for a moment before she speaks again.

"But you guys don't call him like Shirley! And no one ever mentions him unless they get permission from you!" 

Abed tilts his head at the last comment, squinting a little in confusion. "He has bad reception on the ocean. If it makes you feel any better, he really only e-mails me, normally out of school hours. I have no idea why people stopped talking about him."

Everything he just said is important, but the ocean is what stands out to Frankie. "Wait, ocean? Why is he on a boat?" 

He looks like he's considering this for a second, and when he talks again he seems reserved. "Strictly to avoid the miscommunication trope and not waste time on exposition, I'll summarize." She mentally prepares herself for a wild tale. "Troy was part of the original study group, but left Greendale last year to sail around the world. When Pierce died, he left him millions of dollars in stocks for Hawthorne Wipes, on the condition that Troy "find himself" out on the seas. In order to insure the goal was completed, LeVar Burton accompanied him."

_'Okay, definitely wild.'_ "Who's LeVar Burton?"

"I always forget you don't have TV. LeVar Burton was an actor on Star Trek and host of Reading Rainbow, two pretty well known shows that Troy is a big fan of."

This is more than any other information she's got, so Frankie considers this part a major success. But it feels like something's missing, like Abed's omitting important details. In confirmation, she tries to double down. "Weird. And that's it? Nothing else?"

"That is about it for LeVar, really all I can explain without you having more general knowledge of public broadcasting. I think Annie has got the car warmed up now, so I should go." Despite Frankie's effort to clarify, he's already walking away. _'Gosh darn it.'_ Now, she'll never claim to be good at reading Abed, but she thinks he was deflecting there at the end. Trying to avoid talking about Troy anymore, he resorted to pointing out her lack of cable. As The A-Team pull out, one waving goodbye and the other messing with the seat warmers, Frankie tries to let it go. It's not important, not really. She's got the scoop, the story, the explanation. There's no missing pieces to the puzzle, nothing standing out. It's more like the puzzle she thought was finished turns out to have an additional picture surrounding it. She really, really, wants to solve it, to get the whole picture. Frankie would love to drop it and accept that 5 years of crazy stories can't be told, but at this point she's in too deep. Or not nearly deep enough. 

Her mission continues.

4\. Troy is related to the three days worth of missing records in 2012.

As part of her very tiring job at Greendale, she must occasionally sort through files. Technically, her job only requires her using the files, but Diane is inept at organizing the Dean's daily logs and it always ends up being a week long organization process. Once again, she finds herself wishing that more funding went into getting a real computer for important information, rather than an insane man's ramblings, but it is what it is. Frankie normally just sets them up in sequential order, with each day being accounted for. One morning however, around one month after she hopped back on the crazy train, she notices three dates are missing. 

March 18th is an uncharacteristically short log with the first half obviously being written by someone competent, as there isn't a single mention of "Jeff's Study Group". It seemed to be details regarding Subway (Restaurant) and Subway (Student) until the Dean got ahold of it. _"I told Troy and Abed about the world record blanket fort! If they manage to do this, it could finally put us on the map! Oh, to finally best City Coll-"_ , and that's it. The rest of the lines are missing, as if the writer was sniped before he could finish. Considering she has to deal with the writer everyday, she knows this isn't true. 

But it's thrilling nonetheless.

Frankie grabs the folder for the next day, March 19th, only slightly invested. When she opens it, it's empty. _'Huh. That's odd.'_ She picks up the next day from slightly farther back, March 20st. Also nothing. The entries pick back up again on the 21st, but for whatever reason, three days are missing after the blanket fort is mentioned. Usually, she'd blame this on a weird weekend or just some misplaced papers, if not for the opening line of the first normal records. "Twelve students have transferred after the previous days events." Along with that cryptic message, there's some complaint forms. A fair share reference newly formed bad blood between classmates, with some even threatening to sue for _"emotional damages"_. A couple even say they want to sue for normal damages, claiming they've been robbed of bedsheets or that lamps were broken in battle. All Frankie can really seem to gather is that a large fight broke out between Blanketburg (?)and Pillowtown (?), two groups with equally ridiculous names.

She can stop right here and she knows it. It's not even like before, where she was so desperate for a tiny piece of mystery solving pie that she'd dig through emails and dissect conversations with the name Troy in it. The only reason she does it this time is because she is genuinely a tad tired of the Save Greendale Committee, a bit done with babysitting grown adults and learning steel drums just to play a background character. (She wasn't upset about that. Not at all.) Besides, the adventure of "what happened years ago?" Is a lot less stressful than "what am I going to do with this giant hand?" 

Frankie's first step is finding out who was going to school in the spring of 2012, specifically those who are still at Greendale (she's not THAT dedicated). She's got a normal plan set up when she realizes that, in the pattern of most things reasonable, it will won't work as well as something dumb. She manages to rope in some people to meet with her at lunch with promises of extra credit and looking into the former study group's HR notices.

The first part is to get goody two shoes roped in, and the second part is to get petty students who've clashed with the committee, so she can be thorough. The woman wants all sides on this one. 

The first to come in is Garrett, who she's met enough times to put in the second category. His voice can get annoying, but sometimes you must make sacrifices to avoid your friends that depend on you. _'I feel like I said that wrong.'_ She needs to get back on track, back to tricking a sick boy into helping her. "What do you remember about March 18th, 2012? We're looking to fill in some missing records and would appreciate any help we can get."

Garrett squints into the flickering light fixture above him. "Are we going to have to do the whole good cop- bad cop shtick, it makes me stress shake. And that light is giving me a headache, can we turn it off?"

"To be perfectly honest, I can't find the light switch in here. We may have gotten rid of it in the budget cuts." She looks at it too. "We should definitely stop doing that. And there won't need to be any shticks, think of this just like... An interview."

He tilts his head and nods a little. "2012. I think that might have been the war between Pillowtown and Blanketburg? Aw man, that one was a mess. It's a little blurry, I was saved in May that year, and I can't remember much from before."

_'This is saved Garrett?'_ She remembers a time she saw the student trying to eat cereal with the spoon upside down and gets more worried for humanity. "Oh. That's too bad. I'll still give you the extra credit though." Before he can protest, there's a knock at the door. Frankie is actually pleased, Garrett's voice can get annoying and she was hoping to find someone in sounder mind.

Her hopes had no effect on reality, as the next person to enter was Leonard. 

"I'm just going around, asking questions about March 18th through the 20th, 2012, for some records. We're looking for any and all info."

Leonard gives a hum that reminds her of prunes and regret. "If I revealed some potentially damning evidence against myself, would I be... pardoned?"

Frankie shrugs. "Sure, why not."

Leonard gives a devilish smile that would be scarier if not for his lackluster appearance. "Perfect." He starts to get the theatrical look in his eye, only old people with something to prove can get. "I've been around the block a few times, and let me tell you, when it comes to battles, this was one of the scariest. 

"Two close friends, T-Rex and Arbys, turned enemies. Everyone knows there's no winners in war, just pain and bloodshed."

She holds up a hand to stop him. "I'm going to assume T-Rex is Troy and Arbys is Abed. But was there actual bloodshed? It seemed like it was mostly just pillow fights over campus ground."

"There was bloodshed emotionally." Frankie accepts this. "Anywho, nobody is really sure how the fight started, but everybody knew that it was happening, those two were inseparable. It was scary, seeing one of them without the other. Even more frightening when they're doing it on purpose! Taco was in charge of the cowards, and I followed Arctic valiantly. To quote Tyrannical, "It was awesome, but also, it wasn't."

Leonard stops talking and starts to stare into the distance. Frankie wonders why she even tries anymore. "Is that... It?"

He looks her in the eyes. "Is anything ever really it, or is it really anything ever? Maybe ever anything really it." 

"I think you may have just had a stroke. Let me call someone to get you out of here."

Her discussion with Magnitude, while very entertaining, also comes up short. Neil came to her office about a video being out there, but that leads nowhere. The things she can gather paint a messy and dinosaur-like painting, she can't tell if adding the eye witness accounts would help the report or mentally scar anyone who stumbles upon it. Maybe both. In her "Troy" journal, she simply writes _"Troy and Abed were closer than I thought. Arguments between them led to 12 students dropping out and 1 efficiency consultant going insane"._ That last part is a treat for herself. She's asked those directly involved, some passersby, and there's only one stone left to turn.

The facility. 

5\. Troy is a messiah. 

The reason she didn't immediately ask the most "trustworthy" opinion in Greendale is a bit of a stretch. The thing is, she just really didn't wanna. It's embarrassing, but the teachers hadn't been a big fan of Frankie ever since she cracked down on liquor in the lounge, and sometimes she swears that she feels glares when she walks down the hall to ladders. Not to mention that back when Troy himself was the main goal, she hadn't even known his last name. She had tried asking around early on in her quest, but she hadn't gotten far enough for anything noteworthy. Then she had gotten distracted by the emails, and the weird dates, so it had been a while since she had done something reasonable.

Unfortunately for her, this meant that she'd have to interact with the AC Repair School.

(The classes had a reputation for being shady and mysterious, and in her own experiences, too quick to waste funding on an espresso machine. One of the first things she tried to do was fix the budget going towards the classes, but Craig had told her not to worry about it. When she insisted, he waved his hand dismissively and wrote on a paper _"They're listening."_ What this was supposed to mean, Frankie had no clue, but she assumed it was based in hysteria.)

She didn't even have to do intense digging for Troy's major, just some standard yearbook checks. She knows there isn't any pictures of Troy in them, (stories about the gang investigating ghosts or going to old western towns always seemed to take place on picture day), she was just hoping to find him under some extracurriculars, then track his schedule from there. He's listed as absent in both the Dance and Football pictures, and Frankie wasn't expecting either hobby. _'An older man playing such active sports is probably good for his health.'_ She gets over it once she sees his heavily pregnant sport teammate and the very short linebacker (the team must have been desperate).

She asks both coaches about Troy Barnes, and the dance instructor regretfully tells her that while Troy was an amazing student, he had also been very private about his life outside of her class. She can only recall a slight scheduling conflict in May of 2012 (busy year), but that's all she can give. The football coach however, is a lot more angry about Troy. He curses AC Repair for "stealing his number 1 player". Apparently the scheduling conflict was over Troy's air conditioning-based classes, and after he signed up for them, he never returned, leaving the mediocre team to struggle. This is Frankie's next lead, so naturally, she plans to head over to the building. Before she can make it, a water fountain explodes near the Dean's office, stealing the next few days from her man hunt.

In fact, everytime she starts to go even close to that side of the campus, something malfunctions and stops her. It's getting suspicious. After almost a month of fixing urinals/ hiring others to fix urinals, she gets an email from an address, simply named "Janitor". The message asks if she could take a look at the cafeteria girl's bathroom in around 12 minutes. She rubs her temples and agrees.

"So, you're the lady asking around about Troy." A man is suddenly at the sink next to her, where Francesca has been washing her hands for the past 7 minutes. Only a little unnerved, she states "Yes. And you're the one breaking school property to keep me from doing it. I could have you fired for that y'know."

His name tag reads Jerry, a name apparently not common enough to be more specific. Jerry shakes his head disapprovingly. "You don't wanna get involved with this mam." A light flickers. "I was trying to stop you from getting in to deep. And you can't fire me, only crazy people are willing to clean up paint every year."

She throws her hands up. "Clearly! You're _insane!_ "

"And so are you. Your hunt for answers has led you down a dark path, and now the name Francesca Dart is on some lists nobody wants to be on. If you keep digging, you're gonna find something dangerous. Something... Evil." 

"Then tell me what it is so I don't have to!"

The lights go out, and when she can see again, Jerry is gone. "Why can't one person in this godforsaken school answer a simple question with anything other than a cryptic warning?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The building seems normal at first. Much more prestigious, obviously, but pretty normal. She wasn't going to take some insane janitor's advice, especially when said janitor was spending the schools money on needless repairs. The only slightly strange thing is the lack of students roaming the halls. _'Maybe the Vice Dean is just very good at discipline.'_ She could always catch a few stragglers, or at least someone in the bathrooms, but here, it was like a ghost town. As an employee of Greendale, she assumed that there wasn't any need for an appointment, but just incase, she had called ahead of time. 

The hallways are long and confusing, but eventually she stumbles upon a door marked "The Office" and trusts that things will get better from here. She is met with an astronaut making sandwiches while sitting on a yoga ball. The astronaut doesn't even look at her, just keeps bouncing and squirting mustard on whole wheat. "Vice Dean Anthony will see you now." They bounce more and point at another door, this one much fancier. The room is lavishly decorated, it's been so long since Frankie has seen an office not covered in photos of Dalmatians. Instead, a large classical-style portrait of a man hangs above. She takes a few deep breaths and reminds herself of Changnesia. Chang in general really. If she can handle that, she can handle whatever this is.

The man behind the door is also the man in the painting. He's a lot more sweaty in real life, and also has a more clear plaque. "Russo Anthony" is printed across a gold plate on his desk, a name that is a reference to something Frankie doesn't understand. Dean Anthony waves at her to sit down, and rather than shake her hand, he asks "What temperature?" 

Mostly confused, "72 is what I normally keep it at. But you don't have to change it for-" the moment his hands touches a dial, the room gets three degrees warmer. This, while impressive, doesn't really mean anything to her. "I'm here to ask about Troy Barnes. I heard he used to attend classes?" She ends it with a question so she can get to the point and leave. _'This place is giving me... Weird feelings.'_

"Ah yes. He didn't stay very long however." 

"I heard about the boat thing, yeah."

"Boat thing? I was talking about the normal school thing." 

Well now she's invested. "I thought the reason he stopped going here was because of his quest to sail around the world. What do you mean, normal school?"

He leans forward in his very expensive chair. "Francesca, why are you looking into Mr. Barnes? Surely you know we aren't allowed to discuss him." 

She is lost at this point. "I did not! What's going on here, why won't anyone talk about him? You're a grown adult for pete's sake!"

The Vice Dean slams his hands on the table and stands. "I'm a grown adult with principles! And I won't have som- some random non-believer tell me to break the gospel!" He suddenly stops and turns to look towards a vent. Frankie has her hands up in a "what why okay fine" motion, leaning back further in her seat. When he looks at her again he's pale, and giving her a pained smile. 

"I'm sorry. It's just... Hard. Troy was very close to all of our hearts and we would just hate to disrespect his legacy. In one of his final requests, he stated we had to "stop being creepy and act like a normal school". It worked fine while he was here, but now there's different denominations, and people are claiming to be him reincarnated... It's a real pickle. In an effort to follow his word, we've been trying to stop people from talking about him, because whispering his name in prayer is a bit much. I mean he's a messiah! To do that, we had to double down on detentions, then some students started to pry the legs off of chairs, and now the entire west wing is run by Kenley." He shakes his head. "It's almost turned into a dictatorship, but calling authorities could blow the top off this whole operation! And lately my wife has really been getting on my case about our son's basketball games, so I'm just really stressed. I was wondering, as a consultant, would you-"

"No." She's done. She can't anymore. _'I shouldn't have knocked deity off my list so early on. This place is a madhouse.'_ "Dealing with the underground paintball tournament is easier than this. I shouldn't have medaled." She grabs her efficiency binder and makes the decision that this is the final straw. It wasn't a man who jacked off to death. It wasn't an around the globe trip. It wasn't even a strange meeting with a janitor who can quite possibly teleport. It's whatever the hell this is. A strange Troy Barnes based cult? A large, elaborate prank? It doesn't matter. It's over.

When she finally gets home, she writes the words "5. Troy is a messiah. He's a rodent-phobic, war starting, former member of a study group. An enigma. He's a puzzle I'm done solving." in her journal, then immediately throws it deep into her closet.

That night Frankie draws up a plan. She's going to improve Greendale, whether it likes it or not.

+1 Thing She Wishes She Knew

_'How do I help him?'_

Frankie Dart-Webber has thought this many times over her past two years at Greendale, but now it's more urgent. And technically not at Greendale. This is the first time she's ever thought it while travelling by car from Colorado to Los Angeles, but it's also the first time she's driven there. The "him" in question is none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Troy Barnes. 

That last note written in her notebook really was the last one, after the AC Conundrum she had tried to bury the man under other worries. The only time she thought about Troy was when Abed mentioned him, something that had been happening a lot more in the past few months. Probably on account of the fact he was coming home.

Troy's journey of three and a half years was finally coming to a close. After visiting 78 countries and pretty much experiencing everything there is, he was returning to California in a week. Well, he was supposed to. That's actually why she's headed to Abed's apartment right now. Frankie wasn't originally invited to the reunion, which was understandable. Just because it was summer didn't mean she didn't have work, and, much to her chagrin, she had never even met Troy. This was going to be a personal meeting between friends who hadn't seen each other in years, and it's reasonable for her to not be there. Shirley was going to fly from Georgia next week with Annie, who'd she meet up with at an airport in Kansas. Britta and Jeff would fly straight to LA, and Abed already lived there, so everyone would be ready to reunite in just 7 days.

But then there was an issue.

Abed had suddenly insisted on everyone moving dates to tomorrow, and also inviting Francesca. When she had tried to decline, he insisted that this "adventure" would need a straight man. She pointed out that she was neither, and while he did laugh, he also said that it was urgent and there was no time for jokes about sexuality. ( Speaking of sexuality, the Dean unfortunately would have to stay in Colorado for most of the trip, but promised before she left that he'd tried to get out there for a day or two.) Right now however, she's less worried about gas money and more so about Troy. Abed's call, explaining she would be needed at his house with the rest of the gang, was vague. Just like anything involving Troy. The only thing that was obvious was his panic, something that is near impossible to pick up on with Abed. He was speaking fast like always, but also stumbling his words and trailing off on tangents about Pirates of the Caribbean. He was scared. 

It'll still be a few hours before she's even close to her destination, but she left as soon as he called. Her list has returned with a much softer goal, to help Troy in whatever way she can. Frankie knows the implications, and he's in trouble. She wishes she knew how to fix it. 

Her mission for the next few days is simply that, aid the gang in whatever weird way they want. It's going to be fine.

_(Right?)_

**Author's Note:**

> AH!!! Did,,,, you like it?? I left it on a bit of a cliffhanger, mostly because I have a concept for a larger project, but I'm not brave enough to start working on it until I get some feedback. Good?? Bad?? Any advice on how to tag, it is so very hard to tag
> 
> EDIT: I've returned!! Mostly to say that a second fic is in the works, and also for this
> 
> Everyone saying frankie is really well written: 🙂🙂  
> Me, getting ready to barely include her in the sequel and only talk about trobed: 😈😈


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